War of Attrition

The War of Attrition occurred from 1 July 1967 to 7 August 1970 when Israel's Arab neighbors engaged in several minor clashes with the IDF; in Egypt's case, President Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a three-year campaign of raids and artilley fire across the Suez Canal, targeting the IDF occupation forces in the Sinai. The conflict was inconclusive, leading to the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

War
After the Six-Day War, Israel occupied the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula, humiliating Gamal Abdel Nasser's Arab nationalist government in Egypt. Hostilities continued on a sporadic scale, and, in September 1967, the Arab League barred peace, recognition, or negotiations with Israel. Nasser hoped that repeated harassment of the Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula would force them to retreat, so he authorized Egypt's armed forces to skirmish with the Israelis. On 21 October 1967, Egyptian missile boats sank the Israeli ship INS Eilat. At the same time, Egyptian Army artillery pieces began lobbing shells across the Suez Canal to target the Israeli Bar Lev Line, and the Soviets provided them with heavy artillery and MiG aircraft. At the same time, the Jordan-based Palestinian PLO guerrilla organization launched raids against Israel, so, on 21 March 1968, the IDF attacked the Jordanian town of Karameh. In the Battle of Karameh, the Palestinians used suicide bombers for the first time, and they were supported by Jordanian artillery. The Israelis destroyed most of the Karameh camp before retreating, and both sides claimed victory.

By 1969, Egypt believed that its military had recovered enough to undertake larger-scale operations against Israel. On 8 March 1969, Gamal Abdel Nasser proclaimed the official start of a "War of Attrition" against the Israelis, and the Egyptians began large-scale shelling of the Israelis across the Suez Canal, while the Israelis engaged in extensive aerial warfare with the Egyptians and Soviets and also fought against the Egyptians in commando raids. A day after the start of the war, the Egyptian general and Chief of Staff Abdul Munim Riad was killed in an Israeli mortar attack while visiting the front lines. Hostilities continued until August 1970, when the Egyptians and Israelis agreed to a ceasefire. On 28 September 1970, President Nasser died of a hearrt attack, and Anwar Sadat became the new leader of Egypt.